Western Standard - August 22, 2022


Sask top doc says 'time to mask up' Again


Episode Stats

Length

2 minutes

Words per Minute

130.30379

Word Count

346

Sentence Count

19

Misogynist Sentences

1


Summary

Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Shahab warned a rebound in COVID-19 infections has begun and will only get worse as children go back to school and spend more time indoors in the fall. 27 Saskatchewan residents have died from the virus in the past month.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Shahab warned a rebound in COVID-19 infections has begun
00:00:06.520 and will only get worse as children go back to school and spend more time indoors.
00:00:12.280 Shahab said it's something I think we again need to become conscious of in the fall.
00:00:17.580 None of the basic principles have changed.
00:00:20.260 As we get into the fall, it's always a good idea to always keep your best fitting mask
00:00:25.160 and especially if you're high risk, start again to use a mask in indoor crowded locations,
00:00:31.720 especially with people you're not normally around.
00:00:35.280 Now in the last COVID-19 monthly report, long-term care and care home outbreaks went from 3 to 46.
00:00:43.120 The weekly average of people hospitalized with COVID-19 went from 88 to 122,
00:00:49.020 with 27 admitted to the intensive care unit.
00:00:52.460 27 Saskatchewan residents died from COVID-19 in the past month.
00:00:57.360 Dr. Cordell Neudorf, University of Saskatchewan Epidemiology Professor
00:01:02.040 and Saskatchewan Health Authority interim official,
00:01:05.360 said the Omicron sub-variant BA5 is the most common COVID-19 variant
00:01:10.680 and Saskatchewan is beginning another COVID-19 wave.
00:01:15.020 Neudorf said,
00:01:15.700 I think what the indicators are showing is that we've passed that low point of the summer
00:01:20.540 and we're already starting to see that uptick.
00:01:23.520 Neudorf said,
00:01:24.440 People are tired of restrictions and not complying with the suggested protocols,
00:01:28.600 such as masking.
00:01:30.040 Neudorf said,
00:01:30.840 Once again, we're at a stage where there's not only no restrictions in place in most places,
00:01:36.340 but there's a low level of voluntary compliance right now.
00:01:39.920 A lot of people are tired of taking those precautions.
00:01:42.820 Less than half of Saskatchewan residents received their first booster shot
00:01:46.740 and about 20% have not had their second dose,
00:01:50.700 making Saskatchewan the province with the lowest vaccination rates.
00:01:54.380 Shahab said,
00:01:54.920 The province is trending in the wrong direction.
00:01:58.020 Shahab said,
00:01:58.660 We are trending up.
00:01:59.600 How high this will go?
00:02:01.160 How much of a pressure will this put on the healthcare system?
00:02:04.140 I think we're watching it closely,
00:02:05.540 but of course, I think as individuals, we need to play our role.
00:02:09.340 We need to play our role.